Dedicated to the Intellectual Brutality of Stanford Football

03/25/2012

Flash Forward to Fall: Tight Ends

In almost every article written about Andrew Luck over the past six months or so, at some point the question has been posed. What might Luck have accomplished if he had been throwing to a premier group of wide receivers? Well, there's another equally important question: what might have happened if hadn't been throwing to such an outstanding group of tight ends?

Much has been made of the Cardinal's numerous three-tight-end sets, but I think all those formations were less about offensive innovation than they were about necessity being the mother of invention. When you've got the best quarterback in football and three NFL-caliber tight ends, but no dominant wide receivers, your options are pretty simple. You put those tight ends out on the field together as often as you can.

Coach David Shaw recognized this early on, in fact, and spoke about it at an alumni gathering last May: "I challenge all of them. I challenge them to be the best tight end group in the nation... What I love to do with these guys is not just to challenge them individually, but to challenge them collectively, not just as a team but as individual groups. It gets them to focus specifically on their roles within the group. What I don't need is each tight end trying to be the best tight end and trying to outshine the other guys. I don't need that. Stanford Football doesn't need that. Stanford Football needs those guys working in concert and taking what the defense give us." And sometimes even taking what the defense doesn't give.

The departing Coby Fleener was head and shoulders the best of the group. At 6'6" and 244 pounds he was usually the biggest player beyond the line of scrimmage, and with his recently reported 4.45 time in the forty-yard dash, he was often one of the fastest. Simply put, he was unstoppable, and he finished the season with 34 receptions for 667 yards and ten touchdowns.

The only reason Fleener wasn't statistically the best tight end in America was because of the other two players at the position, Levine Toilolo and Zach Ertz. Ertz was more of a prototypical tight end, often staying in to block on running plays or releasing for short passes on third down. The 6'8" Toilolo was more of a downfield threat and developed into a weapon in goal line situations, where Luck often floated passes towards the corner of the end zone, inviting Toilolo to outjump the defensive back attempting to cover him.

It's the return of seniors Ertz and Toilolo that will make this position a strength yet again for the Cardinal in 2012. There will be an inexperienced quarterback taking the snaps this fall, and you can bet that whoever wins the battle between Brett Nottingham and Josh Nunes will rely heavily on the security those two massive targets will provide.

After Ertz and Toilolo, however, the depth chart gets a bit murky. Junior Davis Dudchock will likely find his way into the rotation, and senior fullback Ryan Hewitt wears #85 precisely because he used to be a tight end. I bet he gets a little play here as well, especially if senior Geoff Meinken continues to impress at fullback.

The bottom line here is that the tight ends will once again be a position of strength for the Cardinal. Tight End U is alive and well.

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